Last December, at the annual meeting in Virginia Beach, the USATF Masters Hall of Fame Committee headed by Norm Green chose the latest class of honorees. I forgot to ask for the list. (USATF didn’t post it either.) So it remained a relative secret. Today, at the request of one honoree, Norm shipped the official announcement. Norm writes: “I owe everyone an apology for being so tardy about publicizing the Masters Hall of Fame class of 2010.  It has been only this past week that I have prepared the article for National Masters News.  I have attached it here so that you can make use of the information in whatever other media would be appropriate.”

Norm continued:
 

Tasks associated with MHOF fell by the wayside earlier this year as I had to deal with some health issues.  Subsequently, I had difficulty in regenerating motivation for MHOF management that has been my privilege and burden since 1997 particularly after mandated changes in criteria for nominations and elections were decided in Virginia Beach by the joint meeting of Masters T&F and Masters LDR commitees.  I have submitted to National Masters News a separate article dealing with that subject as well.

USATF Masters Hall of Fame adds twelve in Virginia Beach

Seven active and five old-timer Masters athletes have been elected to the USATF Masters Hall of Fame. The actives are:

Ed Burke, Paul Edens, Gary Hunter, Oneithea Lewis, Ralph Maxwell, Leland McPhie and Flo Meiler.

The old-timers are Dan Aldrich, Bill Bangert, Don Johnson, Howard Rubin, and George Vernosky.

The Hall now contains 60 women and 128 men, with 124 representing the discipline of T&F, 48 LDR, and 16 RaceWalking.

Ed Burke, 71 year old hammer thrower from Los Gatos, CA, was the first Masters Olympian setting 8 world records in his career. Between 1984 and 2000 Ed served on the US Olympic Committee recruiting over 100 high school boys in Northern California to learn the hammer throw, two of whom became Olympians.

Paul Edens, 70, of Portland, OR, had a long sprinting career that included 3 world records and 10 USATF sprint championships. He led weekly physical fitness classes and organized track meets for inmates of the Oregon State Penitentiary (absent PV event).

Gary Hunter, 55, of Ft Wayne, IN is a 19 time USATF PV champion, undefeated from 1999 to 2009 indoor or outdoor.

Oneithea (Neni) Lewis, 51, of Oakland Gardens, NY, has 6 WT and 3 HT records exceeding 100%. She consistently records highest National Throws Pentathlon scores since 2001, winning the competition 10 times.

Ralph Maxwell, 91, of Alamo, TX, and Richfield, MN, is a jumper who still holds 4 of the 10 US records he set. His US championships include 10 HJ, 1 PV, 5 LJ, and 5 TJ titles.

Leland McPhie, 97, of San Diego, CA, owns several events in the older age groups, particularly indoors. His titles include 16 HJ, 13 SP, 10 LJ, and 10 TJ’s, establishing world records almost every time he jumps or throws.

Flo Meiler, 77, of Shelburne, VT, has been competing for 16 years and appears to be improving with age (two vaults at 100% age graded came in 2007 and 2009.

Dan Aldrich of Newport Beach, CA, died in 1990 at age 71 after setting records across 4 age-groups (M55-70) in the discus throw and weight pentathlon. He served as the first Chancellor of University of California Irvine from 1962 to 1984.

Bill Bangert, 87, of Marthasville, MO, had an exceptionally long throwing career at national and world class level. All of his masters’ marks were achieved following a 1950 eye disease leaving him blind in one eye. Len Olson in his Masters T&F History credits Bill with developing an all-weather track in 1963 far superior to then current cinder tracks.


Don Johnson of Little Silver, NJ, died in 1993 at age 76. He held many US walk records from 3K to 50K long before USATF recognition. Don was a 35 time national champion in distance running and walking events.

Howard Rubin, 83, of New Hartford, NY, had a mid-distance running career that spanned 28 years. His strength was particularly in cross-country.

George Vernosky, 81, of Bethesda, MD, was a quality runner whose volunteer administrative service was even greater. As Masters LDR treasurer, George served on the USATF Budget & Finance Committee through most of his tenure (1979-1996) until the entire structure was revised. Masters LDR presented him with the Otto Essig Award for Meritorious Service in 1989.

Norm Green announced the results of the 2010 balloting on behalf of Jerry Donley, Pam Fales, Bev McCall, Mel Larsen, Shirley Matson, and Joan Ottaway of the Masters Hall of Fame Committee supplemented by Don Lein, David Oja, Len Olson and Gary Snyder on the Old-Timers Committee. The announcement was the highlight of the joint meeting of Masters T&F and Masters LDR held December 3 at the annual USATF convention in Virginia Beach, VA.

Green reported that 214 ballots had been distributed to listed members of the 2 masters committees plus previous hall of fame honorees. 142 returned ballots, casting 1249 votes. Each person elected received a majority of the votes cast.